Class of ’17 pool most international, diverse

Brown received 28,807 applications for the Class of 2017, the third largest pool in University history. This year’s pool also set a record for the largest percentage of international applicants and applicants of color. The University will make offers of admission in late March.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Brown University received 28,807 applications for the Class of 2017, the third largest pool in University history. That number represents a slight increase from last year’s total of 28,742 applications.

Applicants hail from all 50 states, with California, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Texas being the top states represented. About 71 percent of applicants come from public schools, 20 percent from private schools, and 9 percent from parochial schools. The majority of applicants intend to study social sciences (29 percent), life or medical sciences (27 percent), or physical sciences (25 percent), with biology, engineering, international relations, economics, biochemistry, and molecular biology as the most popular intended concentrations.

Sixty-eight percent of applicants are seeking financial aid, a number that has remained unchanged for the last three years.

This year’s pool is the University’s most diverse, with 38 percent of applications submitted by students of color, defined as students who self-identify as African American, Latino, Native American or Asian.

The University also saw its largest percentage of international applicants (17 percent — 4,783 — hailing from 145 nations, the largest number of countries ever represented in an applicant pool. Among international applicants, the University received a record number of applications from China and from India, the top two countries in the pool after the United States. Other countries with high numbers of applicants included Canada, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.

“We are delighted with this talented, diverse applicant pool and look forward to bringing to Providence and College Hill another extraordinary class,” said James Miller, Brown’s dean of admission.

Brown received 2,246 applications for the Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME), the eight-year course of study leading to the M.D. degree, and 531 for the Brown/Rhode Island School of Design dual degree program. Between 55 and 60 PLME students and 15 students in the Brown/RISD dual degree program are expected to matriculate

Included in the applicant pool are 558 students who were chosen for early decision admission in December.

Brown anticipates a matriculating undergraduate class of about 1,500 students. Admission offers will be made at the end of March.

Note to Editors:

Editors: Brown University has a fiber link television studio available for domestic and international live and taped interviews, and maintains an ISDN line for radio interviews. For more information, call (401) 863-2476.